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There Is Only Narrative: Non-Fiction Demystified with the Eve White Literary Agency

There Is Only Narrative is a new programme run by Spread the Word in partnership with the Eve White Literary Agency to find and develop new non-fiction writers from diverse backgrounds.  

There Is Only Narrative aims to demystify the process of writing a non-fiction from a craft and career perspective and encourage and support more writers from backgrounds underrepresented in UK publishing to write a non-fiction project. It has an access fund in place for disabled writers. 

Running across 2025-26, There Is Only Narrative will provide free and accessible opportunities for unpublished and unagented writers to gain the skills and insight to develop their non-fiction project, including:  

  • Editors’ Panel with Beth Eynon, Assallah Tahir and Shammah Banerjee, chaired by Eve White and Ludo Cinelli; 

  • A survey for writers on the barriers to and support they need to write non-fiction;  

  • There Is Only Narrative: Getting Started with Writing a Non-Fiction Proposal a bespoke document written by the Eve White Literary Agency to support writers in developing a proposal for their book idea; 

  • Three free online non-fiction masterclasses run by authors Damian Le Bas, Rae Earl, Eleanor Bruce and Lucilla Gray; 

  • Agents’ Panel led by Ludo Cinelli and Eve White with a Q&A on submitting to agents; 

  • Competition for unagented and unpublished writers underrepresented in UK publishing – opening for submissions in April 2026. 

Through the programme and competition, a cohort of writers will be selected for ongoing support with the goal of them going on to be represented by the Eve White Literary Agency and being published.  

Panel event, Writers’ Survey and Guide to Writing a Proposal

Spread the Word and the Eve White Literary Agency would like to better understand the barriers to writing non-fiction and what ongoing support we can offer to encourage more writers to write a non-fiction project. We would love to hear your thoughts through There Is Only Narrative Survey. By completing it and entering your email address you will receive There Is Only Narrative: Getting Started with Writing a Non-Fiction Proposal. The survey closed for responses on Tuesday 20 January 2026. 

Writers’ Survey and Guide to Writing a Proposal

Spread the Word and the Eve White Literary Agency would like to better understand the barriers to writing non-fiction and what ongoing support we can offer to encourage more writers to write a non-fiction project. We would love to hear your thoughts through There Is Only Narrative Survey. By completing it and entering your email address you will receive There Is Only Narrative: Getting Started with Writing a Non-Fiction Proposal

Click here to complete the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/there-is-only-narrative

The deadline to complete the survey is Tuesday 20 January 2026. We will be publishing the key findings here in February 2026.

Masterclasses and Seminars

Open to all, the masterclasses and seminars are free to participate in and will take place on Zoom. All sessions will be recorded and auto-captioned. BSL will be available upon request.

Why Write Non-Fiction – Editors’ Panel chaired by Eve White and Ludo Cinelli

Tuesday 9 December 2025, 7pm-8.30pm
Book your free place here: https://buytickets.at/spreadtheword/1944627

Eleanor Bruce and Lucilla Gray Masterclass 

Wednesday 28 January 2026, 7pm-8.30pm
Will go on sale in December.

Rae Earl Masterclass

Wednesday 25 February 2026, Time TBC
Will go on sale in December.

Damian Le Bas Masterclass

Tuesday 17 March 2026, 7pm-8.30pm
Will go on sale in December.

Eve White Literary Agency on Submissions and Q&A

Wednesday 22 April 2026, 7pm-8.30pm
Will go on sale in December.

There Is Only Narrative Competition

The competition is free to enter and open to unpublished and unagented UK-based writers aged 18+ who identify as one or more of the following: 

  • Black, Asian or Global Majority 

  • Disabled 

  • LGBTQIA+ 

  • Working Class upbringing

  • Low-income* 

*We define low-income as earning on or below the Living Wage and/or in receipt of benefits such as Universal Credit.

The competition will open on Wednesday 22 April 2026 and close on Tuesday 23 June 2026. 

From the competition we will be selecting a cohort of 4-6 writers who will receive ongoing support from the Eve White Literary Agency and Spread the Word. This will include:

  • A group session with a published non-fiction author
  • Individual 121 meeting with agents from the Eve White Literary Agency
  • Individual 121 meeting with Spread the Word

More details on how to enter plus the online entry form will be published in April 2026.

Access and Access Fund

The programme has an access fund to support disabled writers. If you require support to fully participate in the programme, for example if you need BSL interpretation or a scribe, please contact us. We’ll be recording each Zoom session and will make the recording available on request. If you would like to discuss your access needs, please contact [email protected] 

Contact 

If you have any questions about the programme or the access fund, please contact Bobby Nayyar at Spread the Word: [email protected] 

About the Agents, Authors and Editors

Eve White

Founder and Agent


Ludo Cinelli

Managing Director and Agent


Damian Le Bas

Author


Rae Earl

Author


Eleanor Bruce and Lucilla Gray

Authors


Beth Eynon

Editorial Director at Seven Dials


Assallah Tahir

Editorial Director for Non-Fiction at Simon & Schuster


Shammah Banerjee

Editor at Ebury